Heat dissipating fin for use in heat exchanger

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a heat dissipating fin of a heat exchanger, more particularly, which is designed to facilitate coupling the heat dissipating fin with a refrigerant pipe in an assembling process of a heat exchanger as well as to improve heat dissipating efficiency. According to an aspect of the invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided a heat dissipating fin  20  for used with a heat exchanger, which includes a refrigerant pipe  10  and the heat dissipating fin  20  coupled with the refrigerant pipe  10 . The heat dissipating fin  20  has slits  21  formed therein in series for allowing U-shaped bends  11  of the refrigerant pipe  10  to simultaneously pass through the slits  21 , whereby the bends  11  of the refrigerant pipe  20  formed by successively bending the refrigerant pipe  10  into a serpentine configuration are inserted into the slits  21  at the same time so as to couple the heat dissipating fin  20  with the refrigerant pipe  10.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat dissipating fin for use in a heat exchanger, more particularly, such a heat dissipating fin which is designed to facilitate coupling the heat dissipating fin with a refrigerant pipe in an assembling process of a heat exchanger as well as to improve heat dissipating efficiency.

2. Background of the Related Art

In general, an air-cooling heat exchanger used in a refrigerator or air conditioner is configured by a combination of refrigerant pipes through which input refrigerant flows and a number of heat dissipating fins coupled with the refrigerant pipes.

The refrigerant pipes and the heat dissipating fins are assembled as follows: As shown in FIG. 1 a, a number of elongated refrigerant pipes 10 are inserted into holes 20 a of heat dissipating fins 20, and the refrigerant pipes 10 are expanded radially to be fixed with the heat dissipating fins 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 b, leading ends of the refrigerant pipes 10 are bent so that corresponding ones of the leading ends are opposed to each other, and opposed leading ends are welded together by means of a torch lamp. This makes the refrigerant pipes 10 inserted into the heat dissipating fins 20 are connected in a serpentine configuration so that refrigerant can flow through the connected pipes 10.

However, many problems have occurred in the conventional process for assembling the refrigerant pipes with the heat dissipating fins. That is, in order to fit the refrigerant pipes 10 into the holes 20 a of the heat dissipating fins 20, it is required to carry out complicated procedures such as expansion, bending and welding after inserting the refrigerant pipes 10 in straight state into the holes 20 a of the heat dissipating fins 20. Thus, a considerable number of inferior products have been made during the assembly of the refrigerant pipes and the heat dissipating fins, and a considerable time is consumed for the assembling process. As a result, whole manufacturing cost for a heat exchanger disadvantageously increases.

In addition, refrigerant may leak out through welds of the connected refrigerant pipes 10, thereby degrading the quality and performance of the heat exchanger. In addition, since flame sprayed in welding creates a considerable amount of toxic gas, it is impossible to maintain pleasant working environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a heat dissipating fin of a heat exchanger which is designed to facilitate coupling the heat dissipating fin with a refrigerant pipe in an assembling process of a heat exchanger as well as to improve heat dissipating efficiency.

According to an aspect of the invention for realizing the above objects, there is provided a heat dissipating fin for use with a heat exchanger, which includes a refrigerant pipe and the heat dissipating fin coupled with the refrigerant pipe, wherein the heat dissipating fin has slits formed therein in series for allowing U-shaped bends of the refrigerant pipe to simultaneously pass therethrough, whereby the bends of the refrigerant pipe formed by successively bending the refrigerant pipe into a serpentine configuration are inserted into the slits at the same time so as to couple the heat dissipating fin with the refrigerant pipe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 a and 1 b are perspective view illustrating a conventional process.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a heat exchanger having heat dissipating fins according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a heat exchanger having heat dissipating fins according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view illustrating a heat dissipating fin according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a heat exchanger having heat dissipating fins according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a heat exchanger having heat dissipating fins according to still another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view illustrating a heat dissipating fin according to still another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are expanded perspective views illustrating a part of heat dissipating fins of the invention, each of the heat dissipating fins having support pieces formed and bent at both peripheral regions of a slit in the heat dissipating fin; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 8 a and 8 b.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention; examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a heat exchanger 1 of the invention is configured by a combination of a refrigerant pipe 10, which is successively bent into a serpentine configuration, and heat dissipating fins 20.

The heat dissipating fins 20 have slits 21 formed therein in series so that U-shaped bends 11 of the refrigerant pipe 10 can pass through the slits 21 at the same time.

The bends 11 of the refrigerant pipe 10, which are made by successively bending the refrigerant pipe 10 into a serpentine configuration, are inserted into the slits 11 at the same time so that the heat dissipating fins 20 are coupled with the refrigerant pipe 10.

The slits 21 perforated through the heat dissipating fins 20 may be arranged horizontally in parallel, or as shown in FIG. 4, arranged in parallel at a predetermined angle inclined with respect to the heat dissipating fin 20.

An assembling process of the heat dissipating fins 20 for a heat exchanger of the above configuration will be described in detail as follows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the refrigerant pipe 10 is successively bent to form the U-shaped bends 11 conforming to the shape of the slits 21 of the heat dissipating fins 20. Then, the heat dissipating fins 20 are arranged in line, and the bends 11 successively bent into a serpentine configuration are inserted into the slits 21 at the same time so that the heat dissipating fins 20 are coupled with the refrigerant pipe 10, thereby completing the heat exchanger 1.

According to this invention, the elongated refrigerant pipe 10 is successively bent into a serpentine configuration forming the U-shaped bends 11, and the bends 11 are inserted simultaneously into the slits 21 of the heat dissipating fins 20. This makes it possible to promptly and simply complete the assembling process of the heat exchanger 1 compared to the conventional assembling process of inserting the refrigerant pipes 10 into the heat dissipating fins 20 and then forming bends through welding, thereby maintaining the overall manufacturing cost of the heat exchanger at a low price. This also makes it possible to consume only a small space in assembling, and thus as an advantage, a reserved space can be efficiently used.

Further, in the case where the slits 21 of the heat dissipating fins 20 are formed in series at a predetermined inclined angle, the entire volume of the heat exchanger 1 can be made smaller than that in which the slits 21 are formed horizontally. This as a result can minimize the size of the heat exchanger 1.

As described above, this invention can produce the heat exchanger through one process step by inserting the refrigerant pipe 10 having the U-shaped bends 11 into the slits 21 in the heat dissipating fins 20, without complicated process steps of for example expanding, bending and welding the refrigerant pipes 10 required in the prior art as post procedures, thereby enabling a simplified process. In addition, since welding is not needed, any problems caused by refrigerant leaking through welds can be solved clearly.

On the other hand, the slits 21 are formed with a length corresponding to the width of both opposed portions of the refrigerant pipe 10, and semicircularly shaped at both ends thereof.

However, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, another type of slits 21 may be provided in such a manner as to have coupling holes 21 a formed at both ends thereof with the same size as the diameter of the refrigerant pipe 10, and an opening 21 b between the coupling holes 21 a with a width smaller than the diameter of the refrigerant pipe 10.

Further, at the U-shaped bends 11 of the refrigerant pipe 10, flat inserting portions 11 a are formed with a thickness the same as the width of the opening 21 b by pressing the bends 11. By inserting the inserting portions 11 a of the U-shaped bends 11 into the openings 21 b, semicircular portions of the refrigerant pipe 10 can be stably inserted without movement through the coupling holes 21 a at both ends of the slits 21. This as a result provides an advantage in that the heat dissipating fins 20 can be coupled with the refrigerant pipe 10 more stably.

Besides, a reinforcing portion 22 may be formed by pressing a predetermined area of the heat dissipating fin 20 between the slits 21, to thereby increase the overall durability of the heat dissipating fin 20.

In the meantime, as shown in FIGS. 8 a, 8 b and 9, inwardly bent support pieces 21 c are formed at predetermined regions of the heat dissipating fin 20 that are semicircularly shaped at both ends of the slits 21 for receiving the refrigerant pipe 10 (FIG. 8 a), and at peripheral portions of the coupling holes 21 a that are formed at both ends of the slits 21 to be coupled with the refrigerant pipe 10.

The reinforcing portions 21 c elastically and tightly contact the refrigerant pipe 10 portions to further stabilize the coupling of the heat dissipating fins 20 so that the heat dissipating fins 20 can be fixed to the refrigerant pipe 10 without any pipe expansion. In addition, the reinforcing portions 21 c also make it possible to rapidly transfer heat from the refrigerant pipe 10 to the heat dissipating fins 20 to maximize heat dissipating characteristics. This as a result can realize a high quality heat exchanger having high efficiency and performance.

While the present invention has been shown and described in connection with the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, those appropriate modifications, variations and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to this invention, the heat dissipating fins of the heat exchanger can be assembled with the refrigerant pipe by inserting the bends of the refrigerant pipe into the heat dissipating fins, to thereby minimize the time and cost required for the assembling process. Besides, additional processing is not needed in the assembling process of the heat exchanger. Thus, this invention can simplify the assembling process of the heat dissipating fins and the refrigerant pipe to thereby enhance productivity and improve heat dissipating performance. In addition, this also makes it possible to occupy only a small space in assembling, and thus as an advantage, a reserved space can be efficiently used. 

1. A heat dissipating fin for use in a heat exchanger, which includes a refrigerant pipe and the heat dissipating fin coupled with the refrigerant pipe, wherein the heat dissipating fin has slits formed therein in series for allowing U-shaped bends of the refrigerant pipe to simultaneously pass therethrough, whereby the bends of the refrigerant pipe formed by successively bending the refrigerant pipe into a serpentine configuration are inserted into the slits at the same time so as to couple the heat dissipating fin with the refrigerant pipe.
 2. The heat dissipating fin according to claim 1, wherein the slits are formed horizontally in parallel or oriented at a predetermined inclined angle in parallel.
 3. The heat dissipating fin according to claim 1, wherein each of the slits has coupling holes formed at both ends thereof with the same size as the diameter of the refrigerant pipe, and an opening formed between the coupling holes with a width smaller than the diameter of the refrigerant pipe, and wherein each of the U-shaped bends of the refrigerant pipe has a flat inserting portion formed by pressing the bend, with a thickness the same as the width of the opening, whereby when the inserting portions of the U-shaped bends are inserted into the openings, semicircular portions of the refrigerant pipe are stably inserted without movement through the coupling holes at both ends of the slits.
 4. The heat dissipating fin according to claim 1, wherein the heat dissipating fin has a reinforcing portion formed by pressing a predetermined area of the heat dissipating fin between the slits, to thereby increase the overall durability of the heat dissipating fin.
 5. The heat dissipating fin according to claim 1, wherein the heat dissipating fin has inwardly bent support pieces formed at predetermined regions of the heat dissipating fin, the support pieces being semicircularly shaped at both ends of the slits for receiving the refrigerant pipe, or at peripheral portions of the coupling holes, which are formed at both ends of the slits to be coupled with the refrigerant pipe. 